Nova Tempest
by SpiffyPixie1
Summary: A storm is coming. A storm of darkness that threatens to consume all light, and everything living. Nova will set out on an adventure to combat the darkness, for she is living light. She is the champion of the Heart of all Worlds. A child born of the stars, bane of the dark. At the beginning of each chapter I have a short poem that I created. No stealy. No. Riku/OC This is my story.
1. Chapter 1

-I realize that I have already uploaded the first two chapters of this story onto another profile, but I assure you, this is still my story. I just had to make a new profile because of complications. I am SpiffyPixie1 and Demichy. They are both my names. I will keep things as they are when I continue to write the poems at the beginning, using my name Demichy at the end. If anyone has a complaint about me stealing my own story, then please refer to my Demichy profile, go to my NightmareAngel365 profile on DeviantArt, and see the journal where I have explained myself. This is my story and I am its author. Thank you very much, and enjoy the story.- SpiffyPixie1

Nova Tempest

Chapter 1

"Frantic skies in chaos.

The world never knew who she was.

Born of the stars, protector of the realms.

Damned child of the light, why do you persist to live?

I shall take your heart and your purity, and ensure my own salvation." -Demichy

An exhausted woman walked down the beach, relieved to hear the quiet. Her friend Sally volunteered to watch her newborn son Sora while she went out for a while to just walk around and relax.

Juliana looked up toward the stars and sighed for a moment. A tear threatened to gather in her eye as she saw a shooting star, so desperate was she to make a wish. The wish she'd been making for months, for her husband to come home from the fishing voyage that was supposed to last only a week. Christopher had been gone for two months now, as there was a hurricane in the region he was supposed to be working in. No sign of the ship had been found, not even the star-shaped shell charm Juliana had made for him for protection.

"You promised me, Chris," she whispered and closed her eyes, letting the tear slip free. "You promised that you would come back, that you would be safe, that you'd be home to raise Sora with me. Please, let there be some sign that you'll be back. That you'll come home to me and never leave again."

Then she heard the crying and sighed. She guessed Sally had brought Sora out to see her, and possibly to get him out of her hair. _Gods, it seems that boy never stops crying. Not since his father went out to sea._

Juliana wiped the tear away and turned around before opening her eyes, silently hoping that she'd see Christopher standing there with Sora in his arms. Grinning at her in that sweet way that he knew made her heart melt. That he'd tell her in his beautiful voice that he was home and that there'd be no more dangerous trips out to sea.

She opened her eyes and saw no one, but the crying persisted. Confused, she moved her left foot forward and nudged something with the tip of her toe. With a cry she leapt backward and looked down. Juliana was startled to see a baby in a basket, wailing with ferocity.

_Oh Gods, this is not what I need._ But she very well knew that she wouldn't leave the baby there, all alone and cold by the ocean.

She picked the child up out of the basket and confirmed that it was a baby girl. The baby looked no older than Sora, who was two months old by now, and she looked in good health, if a bit red because of all her crying. Juliana smiled at the child and cooed, eliciting a laugh that made her feel warm, like the very sun was smiling at her.

Holding the baby in one arm, Juliana rummaged around in the basket with her other appendage, hoping to find a note, explaining why someone left the baby in a basket on the beach. Instead, she found something entirely different.

Tears poured down Juliana's face as she held Christopher's protection charm that she made for him on the side of the basket, wrapped in a silken cloth with pictures of stars and a shooting star in the middle.

Juliana looked at the baby girl nuzzling into her with wonder. This child . . . She didn't know what, but there was something special, very special, about this baby girl. "Gods be praised," she whispered, and she could have sworn that the baby opened her eyes for a second and winked at her.

Sally left Sora alone for a moment, as he was occupying himself with his toes, and opened the door for her best friend. She stared at the bundle Juliana held with one hand, and the basket and charm she held with the other. "What the hell is wrong with you, Juli?"

Juliana just smiled and walked into the living room where Sora was. As soon as he saw her, he started to wail, wanting to his mother to hold him and feed him, but then his mother did something that fascinated him. She set another baby, somehow different from him, next to him.

Sora stopped crying and just stared at his new infant friend, and she stared back, smiling.

Sally stood next to her friend, confused. "Juli, are you crazy? Where'd you find her?"

"I made a wish, Sally," Juliana said softly, still wanting to cry, but she found that she couldn't because she was too happy.

"You wished what? To be sent another kid?" Sally was panicking, trying to figure out how best to help her friend when there were now two mouths for her to feed, and no Chris there to help out.

"Sally," Juliana said, gaining her friend's attention, "I wished for Chris. She brought this to me." And she opened her hands to show her the charm she had made for her husband, in perfect condition. There were two inscriptions on the back, one that Juliana had made, telling her love for Christopher, and praying for his safety.

The other said, "I'm coming home, Baby-Girl. No matter how long it takes, I will come home to you, no matter where I am, and how far away you are. Be safe for me. I love you. –Chris"

Sally didn't know what to do as her friend took a moment to cry heavily on her shoulder, as she was both laughing and crying. She just patted her on the shoulder and stared at the infant girl who was reaching her hand out to Sora it seemed out of friendship, and she studied the baby for a moment.

She was light-skinned, almost bright, and her hair, what much there was of it, was a combination of light and dark brown, and her eyes were stunning. They were a beautiful sky blue that seemed to tell of the stars, as there were flecks of gold in them that sparkled like jewels. Aside from the seemed 'brightness' of the child, and her eyes, she could almost be Sora's twin.

Almost.

Juliana finally stopped crying and went to make some tea, and Sally sat with the kids, silent as a rock. When her friend came back from the kitchen, holding two cups of steaming hot tea on one tray and the even hotter kettle on another, humming her favorite song, Sally spoke.

"What're you gonna do with her, Juli?"

"I'm going to raise her," Juliana said simply, setting the cups of tea before Sally and the kettle next to them. "I'm going to raise her as if she were my daughter."

Sally smiled and shook her head. "What if someone comes looking for her, Juli? Her parents or grandparents, maybe? Or what if whoever's her guardian thinks she was kidnapped and has the police come looking?" She hated to put those possibilities out there, as she somehow too wanted to see Juliana raise the girl and she wanted to see her blossom into a bright young woman.

Juliana was silent for a while as she watched Sora and the girl interact together, first touching their hands together, then giggling hysterically as if something had shocked them both, and it made her heart warm. _These are my children,_ she thought to herself. _These are mine and Christopher's children, and I will never let them or him go again._

And then she shook herself out of her reverie and smiled brightly. "I think the Gods sent her to me, Sally. I think they sent her so that I could raise her and teach her right from wrong. To tell me that Chris would be home soon." She took a sip of tea and felt the warmth seep through her after briefly scalding her tongue. "I think she was born from the stars, the very shooting star I made a wish on. Gods, I just know she'll be something very special, Sally."

Sally just nodded and smiled. "I think she already is."

That night, Sally and Juliana brain stormed on what would be an appropriate name for the baby girl. Jewel and Star were thrown out, as they seemed to bold for a first name. Other names that meant bright were discarded until it suddenly came to Juliana and Sally. Something just seemed to whisper in both their minds, and they said aloud, "Nova Tempest."

Juliana smiled as she held her son Sora and her daughter Nova in her arms. "Sora and Nova. I love you both so much."

Two weeks passed.

Juliana just got finished feeding Sora and Nova and had put them down for a nap when she heard a great many people shouting outside excitedly.

Something stirred inside her then and she ran outside and down the beach toward the crowd, her heart beating loudly in her chest.

A large raft pulled up, then another. It was the crew of the fishing ship, all safe if a bit sunburnt and gaunt, and all accounted for.

Including her Christopher. He was no different than when he left, except that his clothes were torn and his hair was greasy and longer, and he had grown a matching beard. He still smiled that same sweet smile that made her heart melt and spoke those words that made her soul sing.

"I'm home, Baby-Girl. I'm so glad you're safe." And he opened his arms and Juliana just crashed into him, kissing his face and arms and hands and neck all over, and the other husbands got a similar welcome from their wives. Christopher petted her hair and kissed her head and whispered that he was home, and everything was alright. He wasn't going to leave again.

And they walked home together, holding onto each other to be as close to one another as possible. Juliana walked Chris upstairs to their room then went to the bathroom to draw him a warm bath, and slowly they walked together again to the bathroom where she helped him undress and slide into the tub.

She helped to wash his hair and trim his beard, and looked into those beautiful eyes that spoke of love and faithfulness. "Gods, how I love you Chris."

"And how I love you, Baby-Girl." He kissed her hand and held it to his cheek for a moment before looking briefly pained. "Oh Juli, I feel awful. The night we finished the rafts I had carved a promise to you on the charm you made for me, right next to the promise you made me, but it was gone the next morning when I woke up. I don't know how I lost the charm, I fell asleep with it in my hand, but I feel so awful, Juli, I do, and I'm sorry."

Juliana held her husband's head in her hands and looked him in the eyes. "Now hush, my darling. You don't need to be sad." She smiled warmly at him. "The charm and your promise found its way back to me, safe and sound, as you did." Juliana helped her husband out of the tub and dried him off, and then helped him into his bathrobe. "Come on, I have to show you the kids."

Christopher stared at his wife, confused as they walked together to what used to be only Sora's room. "Kids?"

Juliana smiled and sat him down so she could get the children out of the crib, and she held them out to Christopher who took them both and held them in his arms gently. He looked from Sora, his son who he knew he'd seen before, with his soft skin and brown hair like his, and blue eyes like his, then to the baby girl who he suddenly felt a fondness for, and protectiveness for.

She was light-skinned with brown hair, both light and dark, and she had brilliant blue eyes with spots of gold shimmering throughout. Christopher thought to himself that she could've been Sora's twin, they looked almost exactly alike. Almost.

Christopher knew immediately that these were both his children, even though he knew only one of them was born of his wife, and he loved them both with all his heart and soul. He grinned at his wife and asked, "What's her name?"

Juliana stood next to her husband and nuzzled his head lovingly. And as she ran her fingers through his hair she said, "Nova. Nova Tempest."

Christopher kissed first Sora's head, then Nova's, then listened as Juliana recounted how she came to find Nova, finding the charm in the basket, and knowing that she was special. And Christopher knew both Sora and Nova had great destinies, even though he knew he was far from knowing what it could be. He was a simple fisherman who was going to be there to raise his family and look after them, and be there to love them always.

He laid his children in their crib and smiled lovingly as they cuddled together.

Juliana and Christopher went about their daily lives in their house, cleaning and dusting off the furniture and knick-knacks, making lunch, bringing the children down to feed them and play with them, laying them down for a nap, playing word games and cards together, doing everything they would normally do.

And when night came around, Juliana brought out dinner and fed her husband and the children, then changed their diapers, laid them down to sleep, and her and Christopher walked up to their room where they held one another in love and contentment, and made gentle love to each other until sleep overcame them.

In the morning, it would be the same routine until Christopher was called back to work, with a different kind of fishing job, one that would keep him closer to home. He and Juliana would love the kids and raise them accordingly and prepare them for whatever life planned.

Juliana and Christopher could ask for nothing more and nothing less. Just to see Sora and Nova grow up and be happy.

-So, there's the first chapter again. If I have to delete this I hope it's because of the rule of not having two of the same stories on the site and not because someone thinks I stole the story that I have written. I love this story and I'm rather proud of it. So, if you'd like to review, please do. Have a nice day.- SpiffyPixie1


	2. Chapter 2

-So, here is chapter two of my Nova Tempest story. I will be posting chapters up to chapter 4 on here today since I am not finished with chapter 5 as of yet. Thank you, and enjoy reading.- SpiffyPixie1

Nova Tempest

Chapter 2

"Why would the Heart of All Worlds not call out a protector?

Does it not fear the approaching darkness?

Does it not fear all of creation being eaten away?

A Heart calls out for a champion when it needs it most.

A champion is called Healer of the Light.

A champion is called Bane of the Dark." –Demichy

I remembered looking at the clock, bored out of my mind because I had finished my exams and I wasn't allowed to read, pull out my laptop and browse the net, or even play solitaire by myself.

Glancing at Mrs. Donnelly, I noticed that she had finally turned her back, typing something furiously into her phone. No doubt she was still angry (she had been fuming loudly about it to us earlier) that her husband forgot to go to the store or that he forgot to make an appointment with the doctor because their 4-year-old son Brian had chicken-pox, but the point was that she was distracted.

And if she was distracted, I could possibly sneak out of the already open doorway and sit outside so I could feel the sun. Strange thing was that, unlike other kids who had pale skin like mine, I never sunburnt or tanned, just stayed this pale tone that Sora would jokingly tell me glowed in the darkness.

Watching her carefully, I started to inch out of my seat, and I felt my brother look at me like, "Nova, don't. Please don't leave me here."

And he knew I wouldn't. I sat back down in my seat and smiled at Sora, who smiled back in relief. He wasn't done with his exams, and he hated being the last or near last one to finish his test.

As it was, there were six others in the class who hadn't finished their exams yet. I glanced to my left and saw Kairi walking up to Mrs. Donnelly's desk, a look of triumph on her face that she was done and as soon as we were out of here, it would be summer break.

Five then.

Sora slumped down lower in his seat but continued on with his test. Kairi and I gave him a sympathetic look.

"Mrs. Donnelly?"

We all looked up at once and saw Riku standing at the door. He had a look of indifference on his face, even though he was only one grade above us. I could hear the girls hold their breath as they looked at him, swooning like a bunch of weirdoes, and the guys grin because Riku was considered one of the cool guys that was just awesome to hang out with.

I ignored him after this observation and focused my eyes on Sora's test, willing him to choose answer four instead of one, because it was the correct one, and answer one was only close to it.

Miraculously he chose four, and I made a motion of triumph with my arm that caused everyone to look at me strangely, and I just smiled and stuck my tongue out like it was normal for me to wave my arms around for no reason.

Kairi stifled a laugh and Sora just looked at me in confusion, while Riku just rolled his eyes and finally spoke. "Principal Ryans would like to see Nova in her office, if you wouldn't mind. There are people here to see her."

I immediately dreaded this information. Not because I thought I was in trouble, but because as soon as I stood up, I just knew that almost everyone with a cellphone in the room took them out and started texting wild rumors.

I imagined them ranging from I was wanted by the police to my grandparents were secretly a part of the FBI and wanted me to be their newest junior agent to I was a part of a drug war going on somewhere on another island. How anyone could possibly come up with rumors so strange, I had no idea.

I ruffled Sora's hair like dad did and kissed him on the head like mom, knowing it would bug him, but letting him know that I was sorry. I waved at Kairi on my way out and walked to the principal's office with Riku.

Neither of us said much at that moment, and it unnerved me. It's not like Riku was normally super excited and talkative like my brother, but he was one of my best friends. He at least usually talked

And him not talking, a grim and almost pained look, at least for him, on his face indicated that the principal and whoever else was there wanted to talk to me about something that Riku was not at all happy about.

We stopped outside the principal's office, and I had to grab his arm to make him look at me. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

Riku sighed and looked at the tiny window on the door, away from my eyes. He seemed never able to look me in the eyes. "There's a couple of people from the University here to speak with you. They're real excited to meet you."

Truthfully, I was a little excited, too. "From the university?" I knew that was wholly a possibility, since I was offered multiple times to skip ahead of my grade, ever since I was in elementary school, but I always refused.

I knew the excitement was practically oozing out of my voice, and I knew Riku could hear it. He jerked his hand away from me. "You know that the University of the Islands is on another island, right? You'd have to go live there in order to attend, stay in a dorm with so many people you don't know, and what if you got hurt?"

I was confused, and a more than a little annoyed, but I forced it down. Something was wrong with my friend and I needed to comfort him. "What's going on, Riku?"

He wouldn't look at me, wouldn't look into my eyes, and it was infuriating. "Go on inside before you get in trouble for not being punctual."

"Riku . . ."

He turned his back to me and walked away, and I felt like there was something I should've said, something that he needed to hear from me.

But whatever it was, the moment was lost and I turned and opened the door, putting a smile on my face.

"Hello, Principal Ryans. You wanted to see me?"

She looked up at me, looking more than delighted. "Nova! Come in, now. I was just telling Mr. Peters and Ms. Franklin about you."

Two people I had never seen before stood up and extended their hands to me as one, pleased looks upon their faces. "Nice to meet you dear."

Mr. Peters was a tall middle-aged man with graying brown hair and normal brown eyes. He was nice enough and shook my hand gently, and I immediately got the feeling that he was a professor of some sort.

Ms. Franklin was a young looking woman with curly, shiny waves of auburn hair and bright, leaf green eyes. But when I shook her hand, she had a vice-like grip, and something happened that shocked me and left me shaken.

When I touched her hand, her whole being seemed to change, if only for a second. Her hair mostly disappeared and what was left of it was like brittle, rank straw, her skin drooped and blackened to an almost charred appearance, and her eyes. . . . Her eyes were black holes, looking like they'd been clawed out long ago, the scars were so old and looked infected around her empty lids. At my touch, she looked enraged.

I jerked my hand away and she was once again was this beautiful young woman, so vibrant looking and pleasant. Smiling.

I wanted to vomit.

"Ms. Tempest, what is wrong with you?" Principal Ryans looked shocked and immediately went to apologize to Ms. Franklin, but she was interrupted.

"No no, it was my fault," the woman said with a smile. She waggled her fingers. "I find I often accidentally shock people."

The meeting went on after multiple disapproving looks from the principal. The professor and 'she-witch', I called her in my mind, came to speak about moving me to the university because the principal had called and told them I was an "oh so exceptional student."

And the whole time I couldn't take my eyes away from 'Ms. Franklin', expecting for her to turn back into that horrible monstrosity any second to claw my eyes out so I'd look like her. She just smiled at me pleasantly, if a bit creepily, and when it was time for them to go, I bowed my head instead of shaking her hand and she winked at me as if we shared a secret.

Which I suppose we did.

I ran back to my classroom and found Sora there, done with his test and looking pleased with himself.

He smiled at me and waved, and I waved back weakly, still shaken and not able to get the picture of that woman's mangled face out of my head.

The bell rang loudly and signaled that school was out, and summer had begun.

Usually I would be happily walking along with Sora and Kairi toward home, and we'd meet up with Riku somewhere and talk about what to do for the summer, what 'adventures' to have, and Riku and Sora would start fighting with their wooden swords, one of them winning more than the other.

I sighed and walked a little bit behind Sora and Kairi, and they sensed my unease.

"Nova?" I found that all I could do was hug my brother and say I'd talk to them later about it, and I hurried on home.

I worried my mother when she told me a woman from the university called about scheduling a trip sometime in the summer for my family and me to come down to the university and talk about enrolling me there, and I almost started crying.

It should've been exciting, right? I should've been excited to be the first possible member of my family to go to college. But I wasn't. Something didn't feel right about that woman, aside from the gross vision of her that I had. I was just . . . scared. And I didn't get scared of anything.

At home, here on the island, there wasn't much to be scared of. But I had a feeling that something was about to change, something drastic and strange, and that I was going to be a part of it.

Sora came home straight away to ask me what was wrong, dragging Riku along, and Kairi got away as soon as her grandma would let her.

I didn't know what to say to them, really. What if I had just imagined that whole thing with the woman changing into that gross monster-whatever-it-was? But my friends and my brother listened regardless, even Riku though he had been in a pissy mood earlier.

And they didn't mock me. They just listened, wide-eyed and silent until I was finished.

Sora hugged me and told me that maybe I was just tired and I nodded, wanting to believe that I had imagined it.

The only one who didn't seem to believe that was Riku. He had an expression on his face, one that I had never seen from him before, something that I couldn't place. But as soon as he noticed me looking, the look disappeared and he smiled in his normal cocky way.

And so, for the moment, everything seemed back to normal.

-For this story, I tend to make the chapters a bit long. I'm not sure why, but it happens. Hope you enjoyed reading. Please leave a review.- SpiffyPixie1


	3. Chapter 3

-So here is chapter 3. I hope you enjoy it, because I did.- SpiffyPixie1

Nova Tempest

Chapter 3

"Fear does nothing but hinder the heart and mind.

Hate does nothing but hinder kindness and civility.

Love does nothing but capture you in timeless affection.

To one of the dark, with no feelings at all, only a longing exists.

A longing to consume all." –Demichy

A few days later, mom and dad were talking excitedly about the visit they had scheduled to the university. I had convinced myself that the woman's other self was nothing but a figment of my imagination, but I still had nightmares about a point of light in a sea of darkness, and the darkness was slowly eating it away.

I finished my pancakes after Sora and we were waiting for mom to give us the go ahead to leave.

She smiled. "Don't you guys wanna talk about the trip?"

As if we hadn't already. "Mom, please? We have to meet Riku and Kairi at the island! We're late!" I laughed silently because Sora and I were always late. If one of us didn't sleep in, the other was daydreaming.

Mom kissed us both goodbye and sighed, but went about cleaning, and Sora and I ran to our boat.

Riku and Kairi, I knew, were long gone to the island right now and probably waiting impatiently. Well, Kairi was anyway. She'd wave to me, scold Sora, because isn't it always the guys fault? And I'd swim a while in the ocean, diving to collect shells or fish for lunch, and then surface again and swim back to shore in time for one of Sora and Riku's fights.

They never let me participate in one of their actual fights, because they were guys, and Kairi never wanted to anyway, but we'd watch and wince when one of them got hit, and I'd keep score on their wins and losses.

As it was, an hour and a half after we got to the island, it was Riku 2, Sora 0.

I consoled my brother, gave him a few tips of what to watch for, and we sat down to eat the small snack I made. Then we started planning our trip.

We came up with it during the end of the school year. We'd build a raft big enough for the four of us, bring food, clothes, other supplies, and sail out.

There was a certain mystery and beauty to the world beyond. We all wanted to find something different, I guess.

Sora wanted to broaden his horizon and become strong enough to protect everyone he loved. To protect Kairi, though he wouldn't admit it. He might've not been smart in all things, but he was pure of heart and hated no one.

Kairi herself wanted to find out where she had come from, as she had washed up on the island when we were about seven years old. No one knew where she had come from, and she herself couldn't remember. Anything.

Riku . . . Riku was different. I could sense his feelings of imprisonment in our small home, on our island, and I knew he wanted to see everything. He didn't want to feel restricted and wanted to be able to go anywhere he wished. He wanted freedom.

And I . . . I wasn't sure what I wanted. I wanted to go on an adventure with my friends. I didn't want to be here when it was time to go to the university. I didn't want to be here when whatever bad was supposed to happen did. I ignored the little voice in the back of my head saying, "You can't ignore destiny."

So for the time being, we put a plan together on how to work on the raft. We weren't going to put it together right away, of course. I wanted everyone to rest, since school just barely ended. So we decided to just gather the materials first and have fun.

Sora and Riku ran off toward the cove for a race, and I itched to run after them, but I kept pace with Kairi. After all, we were the referees.

I was falling into the darkness. There was no one there to hear my screaming, no one to catch me and stop me from falling, and I was terrified.

The darkness screamed with me, wailing in horrific pain because my body was ripping a path through it as I fell. But the darkness soon swallowed the path up again, after I was far away from it.

The dark tried to touch me, tried to consume me, but as hard as it tried, it could not get near me. I was still scared out of my mind until my descent slowed and a light shown beneath me.

I floated down and saw a giant round platform, glowing with an inner light, and the picture of a woman who was unfamiliar sat upon it. She was beautiful and tall and strong, with a tight white corset on and a long silken white skirt, and in her hands she held one long sword, and one rifle, held in front of her to form an X. Her hair was held back in a loose ponytail, but strands fell still to form bangs that delicately framed her strong jaw. A large kingdom shown in back of her, with bandits and assassins charging out from graveyards and trees.

I landed on the edge of the platform and stumbled a bit, dizzy and unused to feeling the pressure of standing on my legs after falling for so long.

_"There is so much to do, young one. . ."_

I whipped my head around, startled and wondering who was speaking. "Hello? Who's there?"

The voice sounded tired. _"The time has come for you to play your part, Nova."_

"My part?" I just wanted to know who the voice was, and how they knew my name.

_"The darkness is spreading, Nova, and there is no time left to waste. Come now._

_ Step forward."_

And I did.

A square dais rose from a pool of light that quickly faded, and upon it rested a pair of daggers, sharp looking and gleaming.

_"Your power is needed, child."_

A second dais rose, and a long, dark cherry wood staff rested on it, with a crystal at its' top that swirled and glittered when you looked into it.

_"You must give it form."_

The third dais rose without delay, and on it rested a beautiful golden sword that was split down the middle and ended in two sharp points.

_"For if you do, all will bow before your might."_

I didn't want anyone to bow before me. But I did want a closer look at the weapons.

First was the sword, which seemed to hum in my hand, like it was waking up. Once again, the voice piped up and scared the living hell out of me.

_"This is the power of the soldier. It signifies your need to be at the head of battle, to charge straight into the fray without a moments' hesitation, regardless of your or anyone's safety at risk."_

I had never wanted to be in a battle. Sure, Sora and Riku's mock sword fights looked fun, and I always itched to fight with them, but in an actual war? . . . . There was a part of me that stirred, then went quiet again remembering, "regardless of anyone's safety." I would never forget that someone else was in danger, thirst for battle or no.

_"Is this the power you seek, Nova?"_

I shook my head, wondering if the voice could see me. "No." And before I could explain why, the voice continued on.

_"Then choose another."_

Next I picked up the staff, wondering what its suggested power was. The crystal orb at the top glowed at my touch and the shadows inside swirled around in an excited frenzy, as if happy. I smiled.

_"This is the power of the witch. It signifies your need for control of the unknown mysteries of the universe, to divine and use its gifts to help those in need, and show no mercy to any potential enemy."_

Here was another thing that stirred my heart. I had always wanted to know more about the world, know more about what was beyond, in the very stars in the sky, in the dark spaces beyond. I would love to know how to cure seemingly incurable diseases and help those who were sick and dying, but . . . to show no mercy to anyone who may try and harm me? If they were enemies from the start, no question about it, but what if they were just defending themselves? What if they were afraid of me, and thinking I'd use my power to kill them with no hesitation?

_"Is this the power you choose?"_

I answered quickly this time, "No. It doesn't feel right." And again, the voice didn't seem to care.

_"Go on, then."_

The daggers were last. There was nothing so beautiful about them aside from how they gleamed in the light, how their sharp blades seemed to cut through the air, singing.

"_This is the power of the agile defender. It signifies your need to ward off attacks as well as make a quick cut. Behind an enemy's defenses, you could rescue any captured comrade, and kill all of your strongest foes before they even knew it."_

This seemed more like me, but it seemed too sneaky. To dash around and do all the killing without your enemy even getting the chance to defend themselves would be dishonorable, right? Sure, it'd be useful if you knew your friends could die any moment, and it was imperative that you were being stealthy to get them out of harm's way, but still. . . .

_"Do you choose this power?"_

I set the daggers back down and shook my head. "These are all me. I cannot choose." Strength, magic, stealth. They could all be important to a mission, and I wouldn't always have someone else by my side with the skills I needed. I needed to be able to know what to do when, to know my own strengths and keep them in top condition.

By the Gods, I swear that voice smiled. _"Whatever you wish, child."_

The giant platform began to shake and I stumbled backward, startled, landing right on the X the unfamiliar woman's gun and sword made. "What's happening!?"

And beginning at the edges, the giant platform broke apart into shards that flew off into the darkness before rushing back at me all at once. I screamed and covered my eyes, not knowing what else to do. There were giant shards of glass-whatever-it-was heading right for my body!

I waited for a few seconds, expecting to feel sharp pains, slicing me from all different angles, but the ground still felt solid beneath my butt, and I felt no pain. Except from where I fell.

_"Get up, Nova. You are alright."_

Uncovering my eyes I stood up carefully, more wary of the floor now, expecting it to fall apart again. It didn't, but it had changed.

It was a completely different woman with whom I was unacquainted. She older than me but still young, and wore a long white dress that had a square neckline and dark brown hair that was so long it hung well past the middle of her back. Her green eyes glowed with intelligence but her face was held in an emotionless mask. She had her hand on a man's wrist and his eyes were wild with fear, as if her touch was something to be gravely feared. Whoever she was, she was in control of his life.

I wondered at why that man looked so scared of that beautiful woman, and why she held her face in an emotionless mask.

The voice did not let me ponder this long.

_"You know how to fight, Nova."_

And I felt that the voice was right. But how? I've never fought before.

It was as if the voice could sense this. _"The power is in you, Nova Tempest. Like a storm waiting to be let loose. Reach inside yourself, and let your heart be the guide."_

Several blots of darkness rose up before me and took shape, growing small clawed hands, tiny feet, and round heads upon which rested long antennas and big yellow eyes. Admittedly they were cute, and I wanted to hold one and coo to it.

But I knew they weren't cute little animals to be held. They were dangerous. And as their cute yellow eyes centered on me, I could sense a hatred centuries deep directed right at me.

"Oh Gods, spare me."

One of the adorable monsters charged and I threw out my hand, as if a sword was there. Amazingly, the golden sword from earlier appeared in my right hand, a perfect and deadly fit, and pierced the little monster in the chest.

It twitched then dissipated, thankfully with no blood of any kind, and I swung my sword around to meet the others. Each fell before me, without blood or a scream, and I finally let the tip of the blade point down, and it disappeared from my hand. I panted, a bit disturbed with how I slew them all without remorse.

_"Do not let it bother you, Nova. While they would take another's life without much, if any, thought, it is you they hate but covet above all else."_

I was a little confused. "What are they? Why would they hate me? Or even desire me?" Those cute little creatures that seemed infuriated by my presence, determined to take my life. "What am I to them?"

_"You will know soon enough._

_ Now continue."_

More of the little monsters appeared, more than the last time. 50 at the least, if not more.

I silently cursed to myself as they ran toward me as one. If I used a sword by myself against this many, I'd be overrun. On instinct, I held my hand above me, as if the staff was there, as I knew it would be, and slammed the butt of it down with a crash.

My thoughts, my whims, were answered immediately. Walls of fire appeared all around the mass of dark little monsters, impeding them from charging or retreating. Which was fine by me.

I knew this was one such instance I could not afford mercy to my enemy. Raising my staff I called lightning down and led the trail of destruction, obliterating the creatures one by one until there were no more.

The staff disappeared, and I felt drained. The walls of fire dwindled away quickly. I had to ask what I was thinking. "Did I use magic?"

_"Yes, of course you did,"_ the voice said, as if surprised I hadn't figured that out on my own. _"Magic is one of the mysteries of the universe that not everyone understands. Of course, not everyone can use it. Not without proper instruction. But you are one of the few who can call upon the knowledge of the heavens and use spells without needing to be taught. Magic lives within you."_

I felt irritated by the voice's praise. _Oh, yay for me. Gods, I just want this to be over._

And the voice laughed lightly, not consoling at all. _"Not yet, little one. This is far from over."_

The dark creatures popped up everywhere around me, filling up every inch of the platform until there was only a couple of feet of empty space between me and them.

"Not cool." I raised my hands and felt the daggers appear, filling my palms with their hilts.

This time it was about speed, and anticipation of attack. It took minutes to cut a path through the creatures so I wouldn't have to keep whirling around every few seconds, blocking an attack and making one of my own. Of course it didn't help that when I went to attack some of them, they'd melt into the ground like a 2D drawing and I couldn't even bother to try attacking them before another would take its place quickly and hack at my throat.

Another few minutes passed, and I was exhausted with 10 of them left. Three charged at me from my left and I parried an attack from one, slashed another in the stomach, and then danced away before the rest could jump me.

Truthfully, this was like some sort of sick dance that I knew by heart as I jumped and slashed and blocked attacks. But the inner knowledge saved me.

And soon there was only one left.

_"Finish it."_

But I couldn't. It was one, defenseless little creature. They were harder to kill in a large group, but with one? It wasn't nowhere near a fair fight.

I willed the daggers in my hands to disappear.

_"You must finish it off, Nova."_

"No. I refuse to kill it." The little creature was doing its weird twitchy step dance, and I interpreted it as fear. "It's alright," I said gently. "You can go now."

It froze for a moment, then tilted its head to the side as if considering my words.

_"Nova, listen. You must finish it."_

"Sshh, now," I cooed softly. "I won't hurt you."

It took a small twitchy step forward, and I sensed the danger too late.

_"No!"_

I raised my arm to block its clawed hand, and screamed. Strangely, the monster screamed with me.

Its touch burned me, and my touch burned it. However bad the burn was, I shook it off and summoned the sword again, cleaving the small monster in two.

The halves fell to either side of me, twitched once, its antenna and its foot, then melted and oozed into the picture of the platform, consuming all of it, making me sink into the darkness. But again, my touch seemed to burn through the dark, and I just fell, screaming and trying to slow my descent.

Soon enough I stopped waving my arms and legs around and opened my eyes, wondering when I had closed them. The sword was gone from my hand, and I was standing on yet another platform, which depicted another unknown woman.

This one was clearly in the middle of a war, her head held proudly with her dark brown hair blowing in the wind, brown eyes glinting in mischief, leather armor splattered with dark blood, two elegant looking curved daggers in her hands, and a horde of grotesque monsters on the horizon. She looked like royalty. Battle-hardened, strong royalty.

I shuddered at the monsters, but could not help but admire the clear sign of the woman's strength. "Who are the three women in the pictures?"

The voice ignored my question, but spoke anyway. _"You know not the extent of your true power, Nova. But you will know soon. The dark holds no love for you, for your very touch burns of life."_

I winced inwardly and looked at my arm, expecting a large burn mark to be there from the creature's hand. There was no mark, but I could still remember the pain. "Yeah, well, the darkness-thingie kinda burned me too, you know."

_"It's only natural."_ And sadly, that was that.

"Thanks a lot," I muttered sourly, rubbing that still-remembered pain on my arm away. "What do I do now, oh mighty voice that refuses to tell me who it is?"

_"Now,"_ the voice retorted without humor, _"you show me your power."_

The platform disappeared once again and I was falling through the dark, not even bothering to scream this time. Didn't mean I wasn't terrified, though.

_"Darkness is destruction,"_ the voice whispered to me softly. _"Light is creation. Show me that you can make your way out of here, to your next destination."_

Anything to get me out of this endless darkness. I had a point in my mind, that there was a doorway somewhere in this darkness, and I had to run toward it. First I had to stop my falling.

There was a warm, almost hot, sensation in my chest that I could only interpret as power waking inside my body. I closed my eyes and held my arms and legs out as if to slow my descent, and willed for there to be a paved path beneath me, like the old roads leading through the town. Like cobblestone, but more modern, but still old and cracked. Just as long as it was a road.

My body smacked into the surface of what I imagined, pain coursing throughout my small body and my head from where it bounced off. I stood up slowly, wincing and trying to concentrate on the fact that the path was there, beneath my feet. I felt like I had to focus and believe that it was really there or else it would disappear.

This was the same road that led straight toward the doors of city hall, which from where I was standing would only be five blocks away. To my right was the drawing of the island that Sora and I drew when we were bored and walking around. I knew where I was. And so I started to run.

The only problem was trying to focus on the road and remember it exactly as it was, like the dip in front of the bakery or an exact turn somewhere. And whenever I was about to make a wrong step, a flash of fear and danger erupted through me and I corrected myself.

About three blocks away from the way out, I heard something crashing behind me, and I dared to look.

Something enormous was loping toward me on all fours, its black shaggy head without eyes, a great snarling mouth, and a heart-shaped symbol where its eyes should've been. It was gigantic, and I knew it could crush me in a second.

I looked forward and ran faster, fearing for my life, fearing the touch of something from the dark again.

My heart beat painfully inside my chest, so fast that I was surprised it hadn't given out on me yet. The door out of here was getting closer, I just knew it. I just hoped I wouldn't collapse and get mauled before I reached safety.

I knew I was only a block away from the doors of city hall, and adrenaline pumped through my body, giving me extra strength. I had hope that I would make it before exhaustion overtook me, or that hideous creature did.

Sadly, I should've known better. A great blob of darkness rose up before me and took the shape of the hulking creature behind me, and I didn't know what else to do but keep running and drop to the ground, sliding between the creature's legs. I was so tired, and there was no way I was going to attempt to fight that thing. Not now.

I rolled to my feet and sprinted to the doors of city hall, seeing the two stars on either door that represented the paupu fruit and the golden handles on the pale brown wood. I couldn't help but be relieved as I reached them, and I grabbed a hold of the handles and pushed with all my might, determined to get away from the monsters behind me, roaring as they were that I was about to get away.

The doors gave way and I fell forward into the light beyond. My only thoughts before losing consciousness were, _"My Gods, death is so bright."_

-There will be a part two to this chapter, so read on, please. Thank you very much, and have a nice day.- SpiffyPixie1


	4. Chapter 3 Part 2

-I am rather proud of this story and I love it. The chapters are a bit long, but that's okay. Here is part 2 of chapter 3, and I hope you enjoy it. Thank you.- SpiffyPixie1

Nova Tempest

Chapter 3- Part 2

"Death was not the chosen path for

The insane being who ruled the dark.

Life was too peaceful,

Therefore they had to take over and change

Everything the worlds knew to be right.

Peace changed into war, and war called upon death." –Demichy

There was nothing I could see but the sea and the sky, and it was peaceful. The stars spoke to me, greeting me like family and telling me that everything would be okay soon. That I would make everything alright with the worlds again.

Like I was their savior.

I opened my eyes and thought that I had just been dreaming, that none of the weird crap with the darkness trying to kill me happened, anything with the weapons or the voice. It was just a dream.

Until I sat up and found that I was in a completely unfamiliar place. It was a gigantic library, homey and cozy with a fireplace, those amazingly comfortable armchairs that you could sit in for hours and not get cramped up, and ridiculously tall bookshelves that reached up into the shadows. Heck, I couldn't even see the ceiling. But there was a staircase to my left that I knew probably went all the way to the top.

I wanted so badly to just sit down and read every book I could until I was so exhausted that I just fell asleep in one of those cushy chairs. But three now familiar women stepped forward and stopped in a circle around me, all smiling warmly. Like they knew me.

I just smiled and waved dumbly, not knowing what else to do. These were the three women on the pictures that had been on the giant platforms! That means none of that crazy shit was a dream, and I was meant to do something special. _Gods, what am I supposed to do?_

The voice spoke out of the blue, as if to answer my thoughts. _"Your journey cannot yet begin, Nova. First, let me get to know you."_

The woman that was depicted on the third platform walked up to me, still smiling. Her leather armor was clean now, if a bit scratched from all the fighting she had done, and she looked like a queen with how she held her head high. Waves of her dark brown hair curled and fell to her waist, and there was that glint of mischief still in her eyes, that glint of knowing she was sly and clever. Her voice was as rich as her noble appearance. "What would you say is most important?

Gold, jewels, and glory?

Love, family, and friends?

Or your solitude; a sanctuary from the world?"

I saw a deep sorrow in the woman's eyes as she asked the questions. I knew what my answer would be, and what she expected. "To me, my family and everyone I loved would be most important of all."

The woman smiled sadly, piercing my heart with her agony, as it was coming off of her in waves. She looked weak, losing that noble dignity for a second and that mischievous light in her eye. "I fell in love with a strong man who comforted me when I lost all my family. In a single instant of war, because of an unforgivable betrayal, we both seemed to lose everything. Because of him, I learned to trust again, but I ended up losing his trust and his love and friendship because of a decision that I had to make. A decision that he despised me for.

Yet I still love him above all else, and I would gladly give my life if it meant that he would be safe." The woman crossed her forearms together in an X, right over left, and bowed. "I am Celeste Cousland, of the Cousland family. Besides my brother, Fergus, I am the last of my line." And with those words she walked off deeper into the library until she was gone.

My heart was aching for her from what she described, and I knew that if I ever saw Celeste again, I would do everything in my power to help her.

The woman from the second platform walked up to me gracefully with her head held high. She didn't hold that emotionless mask on her face now, but instead was smiling gently, which made her look all the more beautiful and friendly. She still wore that long white dress with the square neckline and her long brown hair hung prettily down her back and around her shoulders. She spoke softly to me, as if afraid I would run away. "What do you wish from life?

Do you wish to travel everywhere that you can?

Maybe to greatly expand your knowledge?

Or to be the strongest out of everyone that you know?"

For a moment I was confused, but I answered truthfully. "Well, being strong was never on my list of things to want, not unless being strong meant that I could help others. I would love to expand my knowledge, but I'd rather travel everywhere possible. Along the way I could learn new things and become stronger."

Her face settled back into the emotionless countenance I had seen before, but her eyes held so much pain that it could've burned me. "I have always held power in my touch, a power that would destroy a person of who they were. They would do anything I wished, no matter what it would be; tell every truth of the darkest things they had ever done, kill for me, protect me, even kill themselves if I commanded it. Those like me were given this power not to subjugate people, but to free them and make sure they were free to live their lives as they would. But still, my people feared me greatly, feared my magic, even as I was a young girl. I had never had a friend in the world, not until I fled my home out of fear of being killed and to find the First Wizard whom I thought would help me save the Midlands from Darken Rahl.

And I found a young man who helped me find the Wizard, even though he would be in danger because of me, and because of me he was named the Seeker, wielder of the Sword of Truth, and a law unto himself. I fell in love with him, and it hurts so much. Because of my power, I cannot be with him. I would destroy him and he would no longer love me for me, only because I had touched him with my power. But though I cannot be with him, I will protect him with my life. He is the only one who can stop Darken Rahl from destroying my home and its people."

The woman's green eyes locked with mine. "I have seen much, traveled everywhere in my homeland to learn about its people and inhabitants, though they fear my power and my touch. I am Kahlan Amnell. I am The Mother Confessor, ambassador for all people of the Midlands. I am the last Confessor, and I will give my life for the Seeker of Truth so he may prevail." She turned her back to me and walked away, white dress slowly fading into the darkness.

I couldn't understand the pain she locked away or why she chose to show no emotion upon her face at times, but I felt sorry that people would fear her even though she was trying to protect and help them._ And she can't even be with the man she loves because of her power. It would destroy who he was before. Why does anyone have to go through that pain?_

I was contemplating these thoughts silently as I faced the last woman.

She looked exactly as she had when I had seen her on the platform, except her rifle and sword were crossed in an X on her back, where she had them strapped down. Her dark hair was still in its loose ponytail, and I could now see faint blue lines in jagged, flowing patterns on her face and neck. She had a look in her eyes that spoke of wisdom that should've belonged to someone far beyond her years, and I knew that she had been through a lot. But she still smiled at me, as if afraid that I would run away. Her voice was lilting and strong. "What is it that you fear most?

Getting old and wasting away?

Becoming so different that people fear you?

Or being so indecisive that your decisions harm everyone around you?"

This wasn't hard to answer. "I don't care about becoming old. It's something that happens to everyone. Living your life to the fullest and growing older isn't scary. And people have nothing to fear from me. I bear no ill will toward anyone, so even if I changed, I wouldn't hurt anyone. But the decisions I make should never harm anyone, no matter who they are. I want to always know what to do, so no one can ever get hurt."

The woman laughed in a sad way. "People always fear those that are stronger than they are. I was born a Hero, born into a world full of chaos and corruption, and I had to become strong enough to protect everyone. My sister Rose was brutally murdered by a madman when I was a young girl, and he tried to kill me as well so I wouldn't harm his plans." A tear ran down her cheek. "I had to protect the world from him and the corrupt people that his hatred spawned. But no matter the good deeds I've done, people still feared me. Feared that I could use magic and cut a man in two with hardly any effort at all. They feared that I would become a tyrant and rule them because I was powerful enough to.

I know that I've made some bad decisions before, and helped bad people on my way to driving away all the evil in the land, but it was so everyone could survive." She bowed to me, then put her hand on my shoulder. "My name is Sparrow. Sometimes it doesn't matter how good your intentions are, or that you use your power for good. People will still fear and hate you." And then she turned and walked away from me, her long skirt sweeping around her feet. Sparrow walked further into the library until the shadows claimed her.

I felt such deep sorrow and sympathy for these three women. I wanted to help them, and I knew that I would if I ever met them again. "Why have they endured so much pain?"

The voice, as I expected, answered. _"It is their destiny to endure hardship and overcome it. But do not fret. They know how to deal with the pain, as will you in the times to come."_

I didn't feel better. "What was the point of all those questions? What knowledge did you gain from them?"

_"You cherish love, family, and friendship above power and money. You wish to travel everywhere and see all that you can. You are afraid of becoming so indecisive to the point where you don't know if the decision you are making is the right one._

_ The point of the questions was to determine where you stand, what kind of person you are. You are not a heartless being, Nova. You are strong and sympathetic to the needs of others. You would sacrifice yourself for others. You want to see all that you can so you can learn and observe, and you want to become wise._

_ You are light, Nova. You are a protector."_

"What am I protecting others from?" I felt a headache coming on. This was all too frustrating.

_"There is a darkness coming, Nova. A darkness with a deep hatred of all things that are brimming with light. And in every heart there is light, just as there is darkness. Without a way to keep the darkness in check, it will consume the light without hesitation._

_ But you . . . You are what it hates most. There is no possible corruption in you. There is not even a single speck of the dark. You are light incarnate. And darkness craves to consume the light."_

I sat down in one of the comfy armchairs, too tired to really comprehend what the voice was telling me. "So this darkness you speak of wants to eat me? Am I tasty or something?"

Obviously this annoyed the voice. _"You are food, if you choose to view it in that senseless way."_ I swear the voice took a breath to calm itself. _"You are power, Nova. Power that could make the darkness so strong that it could consume everything in an instant, with nothing to stand in its way. Is this what you want?"_

All I wanted to do was cry. "I'm 14-years-old. I don't understand any of this. I'm only some kid, the daughter of a fisherman and his wife. I go to high school, have friends and a brother, and the only hobbies I have are reading, swimming, singing and occasionally drawing." I put my head in my hands and muttered, "There's nothing special about me. I have no power."

_"You are power,"_ the voice whispered softly, as if to console my fears. _"You are the daughter of the light, champion of the Hearts. The Heart. . . ."_ I stayed silent, willing myself to wake up. The voice continued, tired. _"You will stop this coming darkness, Nova. You will put everything and everyone back in its place._

_ You will fix the order that has been broken."_

I looked up into the darkness of that enormous library, wanting to seem defiant. "Even if this is true, even if this isn't all a dream, how do you expect me to know what to do!? What do you want from me?"

_"I want you to stand strong, and not be afraid."_

I said nothing, but sank back into the chair, feeling sleepy.

_"Time is almost up. I suggest you help your brother, as his quest will be no easier than yours."_

This caught my attention, but sleep was pulling me away so quick I wasn't able to make much of a fuss. "S-sora? Why does he need to be involved?"

It infuriated me, the way I could almost feel that smug voice smirk. _"The key, child. It is always the key."_

My last thoughts as I drifted away were, _Stupid bitch-voice . . . ._

"Nova! Nova, wake up!"

I briefly had the thought that an annoying blue fairy named Navi was floating above me, ordering me around, and I waved my hand around to smack it away.

"Hey," the fairy-voice laughed. "You almost hit me!"

I opened my eyes and blinked once, unfazed by the brightness of the sun boring itself into my retinas.

Kairi was smiling at me, and I just knew that she had barely woken my brother up a few moments ago.

When I looked at Sora I got the feeling that he had also experienced a strange dream, and when our eyes met we just nodded at each other. No words were really needed.

Riku walked over carrying a log and said, "So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft?"

Honestly, I was feeling irritable and was about to tell him to bugger off when he just DROPPED the damn log on Sora. I was stunned, but scrambled over to help him.

He walked over to Kairi and jokingly said, "And you. You're just as lazy as he is."

I grumbled to myself as I picked the log up off my brother, preparing to throw it at Riku's head.

Kairi, surprisingly, seemed unfazed and just giggled to say, "So you noticed."

Eye twitching, I turned around and stalked off toward the raft, pissed for some reason that Riku didn't even acknowledge me. And the fact that Kairi unknowingly just egged him on to flirt with her, which would piss my brother off to a level that he'd embarrass himself to impress Kairi.

I threw the log down at the cove more harshly than I intended and it split in two, to my astonishment.

A trio of disappointed groans sounded behind me, and I turned around smiling sheepishly. "Uh, sorry?"

Kairi just sighed and smiled, saying one of the boys could go and find another log, while Sora was enthusiastically trying to figure out how I split the log cleanly in two. Riku, on the other hand, ignored me after this and walked off to find another log.

I glared after him and briefly grumbled to Kairi, asking what else we needed.

She, of course, was oblivious and happily replied that besides the log Riku went to find, we needed one more log, cloth to make a sail, and rope. Lots of rope.

Just as long as it would take me in the opposite direction of Riku.

Sora patted my shoulder and said that he'd go look for the other log and some cloth, then ran off toward Riku.

"I'll stay here and look after the raft," Kairi proclaimed to me. I knew it wasn't because she was lazy, because she wasn't. It was so Wokka and Tidus wouldn't decide to mess with the raft.

I grunted and went looking for rope which washed up on shore along with countless numbers of shipwrecked pieces of old ships. I went up to the deck where Tidus was practicing swordplay by himself with a short red pole.

He stopped and smiled at me, which was surprising considering that he barely ever spoke to me. "Hey Nova! You guys still working on the raft?"

Pushing down my hostility toward a certain silver-haired boy, I returned Tidus's smile. "Yeah, almost done building it. Tomorrow we'll be gathering supplies I guess. And I'll get some more wood here in a little while and carve us a rudder so we can steer."

Surprisingly, Tidus looked like he still wanted to have a conversation with me. "That actually sounds pretty cool! You know, Wokka and I have some plans of our own."

I decided to indulge him. "Really now? What kind of plans?"

"Well exploring around the island. There are places that haven't been explored a lot, so we decided to find them and name a few after ourselves." He sounded so excited, but it was something to do.

"You know, Tidus, you might try just sticking with the tradition of the names the island has already and name any places you find something similar." I dunno why I cared. I just liked tradition.

He shrugged and spun his pole sword around. "Yeah, I guess." We were both silent for a moment before he asked me something that surprised me a little. "How come you never fight along with Sora and Riku?"

_Because Sora's protective and afraid that I'll get hurt, and Riku's just a little idiotic, air-headed, rude confusing weirdo that doesn't want to fight with a GIRL._ "Oh, I dunno," I smiled sweetly. "It's just their thing, I guess."

Tidus rolled his eyes. "Well Selphie always fights with Wokka and me. Just because you're a girl doesn't mean you can't fight."

Like this was new to me. And Riku . . . I scowled in frustration. "Yeah well, even if I wanted to, Riku seems bent on ignoring my existence today, so he can shove his sword up his damn nose!"

Tidus looked confused as I began to walk away, a coil of rope around my left shoulder.

I was silently fuming inside, angry that one of my best friends was being pissy with me and ignoring me. I didn't know what the hell I did, but I wasn't going to go up to him and ask. Sadly, I had too much pride and just preferred to sit by and fume like any other normal female.

I felt a tug on my arm and was whirled around into Tidus's arms.

Was I surprised? Yes didn't even begin to describe that. Was I hoping that he wasn't coming onto me? Hell yes, I hoped dearly that wasn't it. That would be weird.

But he just loosened his grip and rested his hands on my shoulders, and smiled like that was normal. "Sorry if I freaked you out. I just thought you might've needed a hug."

Ah, an act of kindness for a friend. I smiled to show appreciation. "Thank you. Just annoyed today, I guess."

And all of a sudden I felt like I was being watched. Looking down from the deck I saw Riku staring at Tidus and I, an expression I wasn't familiar with on his face.

Tidus looked down as well and quickly removed his hands from my shoulders, blushing and looking guilty.

Riku looked away and walked down the beach toward the shack, looking almost like he was stomping.

I wanted to go to him and ask what was wrong, but then again I kinda wanted to drop a boulder on his head. Wasn't sure which I wanted more.

Tidus ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Sorry Nova. I think I might've made things between you and Riku worse."

Me, not knowing what he meant, just raised my eyebrow in confusion. "Huh?"

And Tidus looked surprised. "N-never mind. Look, you guys have been best friends forever. Go talk to him and see what's going on so you don't end up hating each other. Alright?"

I was getting advice from someone younger than me, but who cared? I had half a mind to listen. The other half said that Riku could shove it and could come to apologize for being a poo-head. Yeah, that's right. I thought 'poo-head'. Neeeh.

Regardless, I thanked Tidus for his advice and walked away, determined to find some more rope, and cloth as Sora would more than likely find something with holes in it and we'd need to patch it up.

Wokka and Selphie both asked me if I was alright, as I was apparently walking around like there was a stick shoved up my bum, and I'd reply, "Yeah, I'm fine."

I trudged back to the cove using the tunnel, walking as slowly as I could. I had seven coils of rope, though I knew there were more if they were needed, and two bundles of cloth. I didn't really want to go back to the cove. Riku would be there, just ignoring me and flirting with Kairi, making Sora so mad that he'd challenge Riku to yet another fight, in which Sora might very well lose for not concentrating and being so angry.

When I got to the raft I saw just Kairi there, positioning one of the logs we needed to fit to the raft. Obviously, one of the boys must've brought a log back, but they both went in search of the last one.

Kairi smiled at me and excitedly took the rope, and we began tying the log onto the raft until it fit tight and snug against the others. No water would be leaking through at least. We then began debating who should take the bundles of cloth, and the cloth Sora would be bringing back, to take home and sew into a suitable sail.

I wanted to, to have anything to do, but Kairi insisted that I had better things to do.

I scoffed. "Like what? It's summer vacation, and all my parents will want to talk about will be the trip to that damn college. Sora will just go in his room and go to sleep, you'll have to go home and help your grandma with stuff." I rested my arms and head on my knees, pitying myself and knowing what she was going to say next.

Kairi sat with me on the edge of the raft, shoes off and calves in the water, just swirling around. "You need to talk to Riku, Nova."

Again with people giving me advice. Gods kill me. "Why do I need to talk to him? He's just going to ignore me like he's already done today."

"Yeah, well," Kairi paused and closed her eyes, as if trying to decide what to say. She opened them again and looked at me, smiling gently. "He's one of your best friends, Nova. Friends forgive each other, regardless of being annoyed or angry. Something's bugging you both, and you need to work it out."

Oh, wisdom from my clueless friend. I couldn't help but smile back at her. "Okay okay. I'll go and talk with the poo-head and see what's been turning him into such a butt today."

We got up and Kairi got her shoes on so she could walk with me back to the beach.

When we got there we could hear the boys above us on the platform island, just talking and fighting, so we decided to go through the shack to get up there.

I was honestly feeling a lot better, thinking that I was gonna pull Riku aside and have a talk with him, hoping to figure out what was wrong with him today, so Kairi and I walked slowly up the stairs in the shack, laughing about things that the boys failed at, like their attempt to make cupcakes and how they practically made a cake explode one day on valentine's day.

We paused at the door, remembering that it was sweet of them but there were cake bits everywhere all over my parent's kitchen. We had all laughed that day, and Kairi and I were on the verge of tears laughing again before we opened the door and looked out across the bridge.

The boys were definitely having one of their mock-battles, but something was different. Sora, looking normally happy about their bouts, was looking stressed and red in the face. Riku . . . He looked angry, and was ferociously attacking my brother with his own wooden sword.

I walked toward them with Kairi beside me, worried but thinking that Riku was just a little annoyed and would take it down a notch soon.

I was wrong.

Their mock battle was over half a minute later, with Riku's ending blow being a spinning attack aimed right at Sora's head.

Sora, my dear loving brother, collapsed to the ground, holding his head where I was sure I saw blood at.

Blood.

My world darkened to the point where the only things I could see were Riku and Sora's fallen sword. I darted over to it, scooped it up and took a swing at Riku, briefly yelling at Kairi to check on my brother.

Riku parried my blow, anger still evident on his face.

I knew my own showed just as much, if not more. I aimed for his right and was met again with his own wooden blade pushing against mine, pushing me back. Gritting my teeth with anger, I dug my heel into the ground and pushed off with my legs, pushing him off balance and distracting him long enough to disarm him with a twist of my wrist.

For a second he looked stunned. Then the anger returned and he clenched his fists.

I threw my sword to the side and raised my own fists, noticing momentarily that my hands were much smaller than his. This was definitely going to hurt.

He took a swing at me and I ducked, aiming a left uppercut to his stomach that hit home. Riku, not one to back down, crashed both his fists down onto my back, slamming me into the ground roughly.

I got up as quickly as I could, seething, my left hand stinging and that spot on my back feeling as if there was now a crater there.

Riku glared but smirked cruelly, which did nothing but make my blood boil. "What the hell is wrong with you today!?" I aimed my right fist as his face, which he blocked and retaliated with a blow to my chest that barely missed as I skirted backward.

"Wrong with me!? You are what's wrong, Nova!"

We stopped speaking for a couple of moments more, furious and wailing on each other until I was sure we'd both either have a lot of bruises to explain to our parents, or we'd both just be very sore and irritable for the next few days.

He broke the silence with an unanticipated question. "Since when in hell did you like Tidus!?"

This confused me long enough for him to hit me squarely in the jaw, knocking me back a few steps. I spit at the ground and tasted blood, as I had accidently bit my tongue.

The anger on Riku's face flickered for a moment to shame and I just rushed at him, tackled him to the ground, and head butted him as hard as I could.

We both just stayed there a moment, dazed and aching before I got up into a sitting position and helped him up.

He was silent, which annoyed me, but I sighed. "I don't like Tidus, Riku. I only like him as a sort of friend, and barely as that. I hardly know him."

Riku, stubborn as ever, looked away and tried standing up.

Me, being just as tenacious, yanked him back down. The satisfying yelp he made caused me to snicker, as I had kicked his butt earlier, literally, as hard as I could.

He glared at me but looked less pissed than earlier. "If you don't like him, why were you hugging him and looking like you were going to kiss him?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be stupid. I didn't hug him. He hugged me because I apparently looked so pissed he felt like I needed a hug. I was uncomfortable and kinda surprised and, if you didn't notice, I didn't even hug him back. I just stood there stupidly then thanked him for being nice."

Riku was looking everywhere but at my eyes again. "His hands were on your shoulders."

I sighed heavily. "Yeah well, I didn't ask him to have his hands anywhere near me. He was just trying to make me feel better and make me feel like I had a friend to talk to, I guess." I laid down in the sand, groaning because of my achiness. "Besides, it's not like I would've kissed him or let him kiss me anyway, even if that was his intention."

"Why not?"

I turned my head to look at Riku, who actually met my eyes and didn't look away, though I knew he was embarrassed not to. "What?"

His cheeks were turning pink. "Why wouldn't you have kissed Tidus? He very well may like you. It's not like you're ugly or anything."

My face heated up and I wasn't sure whether or not to take that as a compliment or an insult. "Because I don't like Tidus, Riku! I hardly know him enough to even call him one of my friends." I gave him a frustrated look. "What is wrong with you thinking I like someone? Even if I did, why would this make you so mad?" _Then again, _I thought, _what made me mad with him flirting with Kairi earlier?_

Riku grunted at tore his gaze from mine, making me feel a little sad. "A lot of guys like you, Nova. You're one of my best friends, and you don't seem to tell me everything anymore. I just . . . feel neglected, I guess. How am I supposed to know if you're suddenly in a relationship with someone? I want you to talk to me like you used to." His countenance was just unhappy.

I felt both a flicker of annoyance and sympathy, strangely. "I'm not in a relationship with anyone, Riku. Gods, I've never had a boyfriend. Not once in my life." I smirked at him, intending to either make him feel guilty or aggravated. "Besides, you've had a few girlfriends before. Even if I was in a relationship with some guy, why would you care?"

Turns out he seemed to have a mixture of both emotions. "That's not the point, alright? The point is, I'd just want to know. We don't talk anymore, we don't communicate. . . . That last day of school was the last time we had actually talked in a long time."

And then I knew. I knew just what was eating at him. "You're angry about the possibility of me going to that university, aren't you?"

He glared unhappily and I couldn't help but smile. "Gods, you're actually upset? Riku, you don't even know if I'm actually going there."

"You sure seemed excited about those people coming to see you."

"Who cares?" I couldn't help but laughing. "I like people knowing that I'm smart, I'm sorry, but I don't actually know if I want to go there." I inwardly shuddered at the thought of that witch-woman. "For all you know, I could just stay home on the island and finish school and then go to college with you, Sora, and Kairi, and maybe get a job working with one of my dad's mechanic friends."

I swear Riku almost looked hopeful. "Would you do that? Stay here with all of us?"

I shrugged, but I was happy again. "I don't really know, Riku. I'll do what's best for my future, but if I'm unhappy going to the university, I'll stay here. With you guys." I just smiled.

And so did he. "Well I do hope you end up staying."

And without another word we helped each other up. But, while Riku was dusting himself off, I reached up and smacked the back of his head as hard as I could.

He winced. "Um, ow?"

I glared, if half-heartedly, but still kinda mad. "You did knock my brother on the head. It's not like I'm going to immediately forgive you for taking your anger out on Sora, you know."

Riku nodded and rubbed his head, a look of shame on his face.

I smiled. "Hush and come on. I want to see how he is."

And so we walked together down to the beach where Kairi was by the waterfall, squeezing a piece of cloth until it wouldn't drip water and letting it rest on Sora's forehead.

I rushed over, feeling bad that I wasn't more concerned with his bonk to the head earlier.

Sora blinked up at me and stuck his tongue out, signaling that he was fine, just a little banged up.

I just sighed in relief and rested my head on my knee, eyeing Riku as he came to sit down next to us.

"I'm sorry, Sora," he whispered guiltily. "I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you, and I just lost control for a second. I'm so sorry."

Kairi flicked water at him and started to scold him. "So stop feeling bad. Sora already said he's forgiven you, just as long as you and Nova have made up."

I rolled my eyes. Typical of my brother; As long as we were alright, he didn't care if he was hurt. "We're fine now, silly. I'm still a little miffed, but it's nothing I won't get over tonight over coffee and a movie."

Sora chuckled lightly and moved to sit up, letting the cloth Kairi had on his head fall. A little cut rested on his head, barely below his hairline. It was hardly noticeable, so I allowed my irritation to slide a bit. Riku did apologize, after all, and Sora was okay, so I suggested that we get the last log and some wood so I could make the rudder and we could hurry and finish the raft.

We hurried about our jobs, except for Sora because I made him sit down and rest to watch the raft, and soon all that was left was to make the sail, which Kairi volunteered to do.

We sat down together by the paopu tree, Sora actually sitting on the bend in it because he's special like that, Kairi sitting next to him, Riku sitting below them, and me just sitting on my heels by him, drawing in the sand.

Sora was the first to speak, turning toward the direction of Riku. "So, Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?"

Riku paused for a second before answering. "Could be. We'll never know by staying here."

I rolled my eyes and erased the drawing of the castle I had been drawing. It was funky shaped anyway. "Well yeah. We're in a pretty secluded place."

In return I received a playful glare and a nudge.

Sora ignored our shoving and leaned down to hang a bit over the edge of the tree. "But how far could a raft take us?"

I just stayed silent to contemplate this. _How far indeed. It's only a homemade raft. If there's a bad storm, it'll get torn apart and we'd be stranded in the middle of the ocean. . ._ I suddenly felt glum. _That would suck._

Riku answered my brother for me. "Who knows?" He got up and leaned against the tree, crossing his arms like the 'cool kid' he was. "If we have to, we'll think of something else."

_Yeah, stranded in the ocean. Smart._ But I decided not to bicker and started to draw us all in the sand, with Riku on the right, Kairi on the left, me in the middle, and Sora above me.

Kairi was all smiles. "So, suppose you get to another world." She giggled a bit. "What would you do there?"

"Hmm." Riku seemed a bit flustered, as if he didn't know the answer to her question. "Well . . . I haven't really thought about it." He looked out to the setting sun over the sea. "It's just. . . I've always wondered why we're here, on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?"

No one spoke, so he continued. "And, suppose there are other worlds. Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater." He turned to look up at Kairi. "So, we could've just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

Sora laid back in the bend of the tree, saying, "I dunno."

Riku rolled his eyes and stood up tall. "Exactly. That's why we need to go out there and find out." He walked to the edge of the small inlet and stood in our way of the sun. "Just sitting here won't change a thing."

I looked up from my drawing to stare at my friend. "But we need to be careful. Exploring is all well and good as long as we all stay safe."

Everyone looked at me and nodded, then it was our turn to look at Riku. He shrugged.

"Fine, but it's always the same old stuff. So let's go."

I just shrugged, feeling a stirring of the wind to the right of me. It swept over my drawing, smudging out everyone but me. It creeped me out a little.

Kairi kicked her legs against the tree and asked Riku, "You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Her voice was so soft, I wasn't sure if I detected concern there or not.

"Thanks to you," he said as he turned to her. "If you hadn't come here, I probably would have never thought of any of this."

Sora turned his head to briefly look at him, rolled his eyes, and turned his head back to look out over the horizon.

"Kairi, thanks." He might've not been flirting, but it sure as hell sounded like it.

She just giggled and said, "Your welcome." Of course she wasn't flirting, but that wouldn't stop Riku from getting under Sora's skin about it.

I looked down at my drawing and smudged myself out, then stood up and announced we should get going. "It's late you guys. We need to head home."

We all sighed and headed off to our respective boats to paddle back home.

I heard the boys talking as they crossed the bridge.

"Sora!"

I looked back and saw Riku toss the star-shaped paopu fruit to my brother. Sora caught it and looked confused.

Riku looked smug. "You wanted one, didn't you?"

Sora, still confused, just said, "A paopu fruit?"

My silver-haired friend continued to walk on past my brother, looking smug. "If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives, no matter what." He laughed and waved back at Sora. "Come on, I know you wanna try it." He briefly looked at me and winked as he passed by.

Sora looked puzzled for just a moment. "What are you talking-?" Then it hit him.

Riku laughed and Sora threw the paopu fruit to the side and ran after everyone, and I just followed, rolling my eyes and wondering at the wink Riku gave me.

As Sora and I headed off in the direction of our house, I looked back at Riku, wondering what else was on his mind. He was distracted, and I knew he wanted to go on this trip more than any of us.

I just hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid to get himself hurt.

Sora and I arrived home in time for dinner and ate as quickly as we could so we could hurry up and get some sleep. We needed to rest up because tomorrow we'd be scavenging for food for our trip. And honestly, I just wanted to rest. I was sore all over and wondering why Riku was driven to such a rage.

My thoughts as I drifted to sleep were sad, hoping that the dark feeling that was overwhelming me wouldn't continue, wouldn't take all my friends away from me.

As my eyes closed I briefly had the feeling of being watched, by both something benevolent and something wicked.

-It follows the story a bit in some places and it is a Riku/OC story. I made it a little violent, but who cares? Please review and I hope you enjoyed it. Have a nice day.- SpiffyPixie1


	5. Chapter 4

-So here is chapter four. If anyone likes this story, it will be a little while until I finish chapter five, as I have other things to work on besides my fanfic stories. Still, if you do happen to like this story, thank you. It is very much appreciated.- SpiffyPixie1

Chapter 4

"There was only one rule the worlds gave,

One that was expected to be followed.

Balance of all things light and dark.

Should this balance ever be broken,

A great evil would be unleashed.

One that would destroy everything." –Demichy

My brother complained that it was hot as he climbed up trees and threw yellow coconuts down to me. We had half a bag full already, but I wanted to make sure we had enough.

I had no idea what anyone usually meant when they complained about the heat or the cold. I could still feel temperature but it never affected me like it did everyone else.

So when Sora came down from the tree I told him to stay on the ground and cool off while I gathered the rest of the coconuts we'd need. At the top I stayed put for a moment and looked around, reveling in the beauty of the island, how the trees swayed in the slight wind and how the water sparkled and rushed to and fro from the beach. Riku was standing on the inlet just leaning against the paopu tree and staring out into the distance.

I decided to be playful and I grabbed a brown coconut, intending to throw it at his feet to startle him. Sadly he wasn't startled but he did grin up at me from where I was and made a gesture of, "What do you want?" I pointed at him then at the sea, trying to mime catching fish.

He laughed and it made me warm to see his happiness and his smile. Riku shot a thumbs up sign at me and peeled off his shirt to dive into the water.

I shook my head and jumped down with an arm full of coconuts to meet my brother, who seemed to be better now that he was out of the sun.

He smiled at me. "So now what's next since we already gathered a mountain of coconuts and you made Riku go gather the fish?"

I thought about what Kairi told me we needed. "Well she already got the freshwater, so we needed fish, coconuts, and . . . ." It came to me. "Oh! Mushrooms. We need to gather mushrooms."

Sora sighed. "Oh joy. Where would we find mushrooms?"

I pulled him up to his feet and let him carry the coconut bag. "Mushrooms grow in dark shadowy places, and moist places."

My brother rolled his eyes. "Sooo . . . ."

"Behind trees, away from the sun, around the rocks, anywhere dark and where the sun won't dry up all the water." I smiled as he groaned. "We need food Sora. So just find as many mushrooms as you can."

He gave me a thumbs up and started to head off before I remembered something. "Wait!" He turned back to me briefly. "No mushrooms that are brightly colored, remember that. Okay?"

"Yes ma'am," Sora answered and saluted me before running off.

I just headed into the island to a place I knew there was a little freshwater pond. It was dark enough and wet enough to where there'd be mushrooms, but I had never seen any grow near the water. It was as still as glass and looked like a mirror.

A brightly colored bird twittered above in a branch and I saw its reflection in the water, showing the same movements as the bird above. But when the bird flew away, the reflected bird stayed.

I blinked, confused, and opened my eyes again to find that the reflection was gone. Thinking it was a trick of the light, I shrugged and looked under the tree closest to the water to find the same kind of mushrooms mom used in her cooking on weekend nights. They were thick, juicy and flavorful and cooked well over a fire.

I gathered about three handfuls and placed them in the pouch at my side before attempting to reach deep and back under the tree where I figured there'd be bigger mushrooms waiting for me to pluck.

Another bird twittered a little song somewhere behind me but I paid it no mind and continued to reach down into the dark.

The song continued on but the bird's little voice changed, deeper than the tropical birds on the island normally sounded.

Little hairs along my neck rose and I suddenly remembered my dream and wondered if I should be reaching into the dark hole. I looked into the hole and tried to see if there was anything there besides my hand reaching blindly around.

A puff of hair, smelling of decay and rot, blew into my face.

The bird's twitter turned into a loud, piercing shriek of anger and terror and I pulled my hand away from the hole and turned around, startled.

A pair of red eyes and a glossy black beak were inches from my face. The bird, the bird who sounded so sweet singing behind me before, was an enormous, monstrous thing. Its three-toed feet held claws longer than my arm and its wingspan was about 14 feet long.

I dared not move, dared not breathe. I just stared and wondered what the hell I was seeing, and wondering if it was really there.

The only color on the monster-bird, besides its eyes, was a red and purple symbol on the glossy black neck of the creature. I had seen that symbol before, from my dream. And that knowledge terrified me, considering the monster the symbol had been on before was a huge hulking beast apparently intent on ripping me apart.

What in the world did this thing want?

It tilted its head to the side in a jittery way, the way birds do when they see something they think is edible, and I wanted to scream. Was the bird-creature going to try and eat me? It was certainly big enough to do so.

But it just stepped back from me and folded its wings, then pointed its beak at the pond, then at me.

"What," I asked it, not even feeling very foolish for talking to a bird. "You want me to look into the pond?"

It nodded its head in a way similar to a human, and pointed again at the pond.

For some reason I didn't wanna look, or turn my back on the bird, but I felt that refusing to look into the pond would anger the bird-monster, so I kept my distance as I walked to the pond and knelt down to stare into its mirror-surface.

My own face stared back at me, kinda scared, kinda worried about being speared in the back by the giant beak.

The longer I stared into the water the more I started to see less of my own face and more of someplace that looked familiar. I saw a cave, the Secret Place my brother and Riku found a long time ago, when we were younger, near the waterfall.

I wondered how I was seeing the Secret Place when I was nowhere near there, but I soon stopped wondering. Sora walked in, his satchel at his side and the forms of a few mushrooms inside. He looked around smiling, and then looked at a drawing near the back of the cave, one that looked like Kairi and himself smiling at each other.

I smiled at how sweet that was, for I knew Sora's feelings for Kairi. His protectiveness and his feelings that went much deeper than just being protective.

He picked up a rock and started to scrawl upon the drawing further, but because his body was in the way I couldn't see what he was adding to the drawing. He sat there for a while, coloring something in, and I forgot to be annoyed that he was supposed to be looking for mushrooms.

A strange sound entered the cave, startling my brother, and he stood up quickly. "What? Wh-who's there?"

I followed my brother's line of sight and saw a tall figure in a black cloak, standing and watching Sora. A deep voice came from the cloaked figure. "I've come to see the door to this world."

I wanted to scream for some reason. That man didn't belong there. Didn't belong near my brother or anywhere in this world. _Sora, run. Please._

"Huh?" Sora took a step back, a little confused.

"This world has been connected." My heart plummeted, as if I knew what that meant.

My brother was still confused, as to who this strange man was and what he was saying. "Wh-what are you talking about?"

"Tied to the darkness." And the shadows in the room seemed all the more sinister for what he was saying, crawling around the rocks like they were reaching for my brother and the man. "Soon to be completely eclipsed."

_"Darkness craves to consume the light."_ I remembered the voice from my dreams and shuddered, wondering at my world being covered by the darkness.

"Well, whoever you are," Sora said, being the brave soul that he was, "Stop freaking me out like this." Then he peered into the shadows, toward the boulder that was in the middle of the cave, and finally saw who he was talking to. "Huh? Wh-where did you come from?"

The being, whoever he was, did not answer my brother's question. "You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."

Sora's mouth fell open in wonder. "So you're from another world!"

I shook my head. "No, don't be fascinated! Get the hell away from him!" But of course he wouldn't. Sora wasn't a coward.

"There is so very much to learn," said the man with contempt. "You understand so little."

That was like a challenge to my brother. "Oh yeah? Well you'll see. I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!"

"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing." Contempt and boredom rang through the man's voice, and it made me quiver in anger. Anger that he was speaking to my brother, and anger that he was calling him stupid.

Sora narrowed his eyes in defiance and looked at the 'door', seeing no keyhole nor a doorknob to open the door. When he looked back toward the direction of the man, he was not there.

My brother looked confused for a second then shook his head and muttered that he was imagining things. But he shook off the meeting with the strange man and picked his satchel back up to gather the few mushrooms in the cave and go.

The scene in the pond faded until I was only looking at myself again. I looked worried and shaken, and I couldn't figure out why the sight of that hooded man had terrified and angered me so much.

I sighed and stood back up, clutching the pouch full of mushrooms in my hand. I turned around and was met with a gigantic, monstrous bird beak screaming in my face. Stumbling back, pouch full of mushrooms flying from my hand, my feet met no more land but water and I fell into the pond and sank down much farther than I knew was possible.

I opened my eyes in the water, suddenly terrified that it was so dark and the only point of light I could see was far above me. My legs kicked in the water, propelling me up toward the light, and I swam as fast as I could. I did not like this dark water, or the feeling that something was reaching for me.

A few feet from the surface, something brushed my leg and I screamed underwater, remembering and feeling the same pain at the touch of darkness, and I kicked harder, desperate to be out of the water. I broke the surface and coughed up water that was in my throat, terrified. But I wasn't in a deep well of water. The pond was suddenly just six feet deep again and I wondered at what just happened.

My pouch of mushrooms laid askew to the side, partially open and spilling out about four or five of them.

Annoyed, I shook myself furiously, spraying water everywhere. I picked up the mushrooms and stuck them back in the pouch, just wanting to be back in the sunlight with my brother and my friends. The entire way back, I could just swear the shadows were reaching for me, but they could never get near enough to me.

Sora laughed when he saw me soaked from head to toe, and Kairi covered her mouth with her hand. I didn't see Riku anywhere but was thankful. I felt like I would kick him for making fun of me, playfully of course. But I'd still be embarrassed.

"Nova, what happened?" Sora was still laughing and I knew I couldn't kick my brother.

I just smiled and shoved his shoulder instead. "A bird shrieked and startled me so I fell back in a pond." Like I wanted to say the bird was some mutant-monster-thing and I just watched my brother talking to some phantom man through the water. Nope.

Kairi giggled a little. "Well at least it's sunny out. You'll dry off quick."

"True," I said, "but it's not like I'll get sick." I grinned, remembering the cold Sora had a few months ago. "I never get sick."

Sora glowered at me, also remembering the cold he had. "Well, you're lucky. Being sick sucks."

It was my turn to laugh. "Hey, at least when you were sick you got to stay home from school." I opened up my pouch and let the mushrooms spill out onto the deck of our raft so I could count them.

Sora did the same, still scowling a little, but playfully. "How come you never get sick? You can go swimming at night while the water and air are freezing and not even sneeze or cough!"

Truthfully, even now I could feel the wind blowing my wet hair around my face and blowing through my soaked clothes, and I knew it was cold. I just couldn't feel it the way I knew my brother and Kairi would have.

Kairi put 16 of the mushrooms back in my pouch and waited for us to count the rest. "Right? I've never seen you cough, sneeze, have an allergic reaction to anything, or throw up. You've never even had a slight fever."

I shrugged. "I dunno why. I'm just lucky." I counted out six more of the mushrooms and pushed them to her. "It can't be that unusual for someone to never be sick."

"You're just weird." Riku walked up behind us and tossed a huge bag of fish at Sora. "Even I've been sick once or twice." He grinned widely. "You might just be superhuman."

Sora looked crestfallen. "I wanna be superhuman."

"I'm not superhuman." I threw a couple of the tinier mushrooms at them both and stuck my tongue out. "I'm normal. I just have a good immune system."

Riku nodded in his know-it-all way, brushing off the sand from the mushroom I had just thrown. "Okay then. Let's see. You've never gotten sick, sunburnt, had a cough, pink-eye, chickenpox, or a runny nose. You've never even had a cold."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Your point?"

Sora and Kairi continued to count the mushrooms without me.

"Maybe you're a superhuman." He made a gasping face that looked so ridiculous that I had to laugh.

"And maybe you're part fish with the way you look right now."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Tch. Rude."

We continued to insult each other and help the others put away all 56 mushrooms, 14 for each of us, and skin and clean all 32 fish, eight for each of us. We stored them away in the bags until we were ready to take them home with us to store in a cooler.

The sun would set in about half an hour or so.

I was sitting beside Kairi with my shoes off, feet and calves in the water while the boys were by the door leading out of the cove over the bridge.

"Nova?"

I looked at Kairi and smiled. "Yeah?"

She was silent for a moment before speaking. "Where do you think I come from?"

"Huh?" I was a little startled at the question. As far as I knew, she had never asked that of anyone before. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering . . . You know, if the place I come from is a nice place. With nice people and nice houses and nice everything." She smiled. "Like here."

I smiled, still a little confused. "Well, I'm sure it is Kairi. I'm sure it's a beautiful place." I pictured a town in my head, open and bright. "With cobblestoned streets and lots of shops and there's flowers in every windowsill. With a castle in the center of it all, tall and beautiful."

She leaned back on her arms and stared up at the sky. "That sounds wonderful. Like a dream come true."

I lied back on the sand with my hands behind my head. "Yeah."

We stayed like that for a while, silent and enjoying the sky changing color.

A whistle pierced the air and we looked over to see the boys waving at us to come over.

I groaned and got up. "I was relaxed, damn it."

Kairi giggled. "I bet they want us to referee a race again."

"Probably." I sighed. _And I don't get to race with them._ But it was fine.

My brother looked excited as we came over to stand by them.

"The usual rules apply," Kairi said in her most authoritative voice. "You can use any path you want, and whoever touches the star tree first and gets back here will be the winner."

I smiled. "And no shoving or trying to trip each other, alright? Clean race, no dirty tricks."

Riku rolled his eyes, but a determined look rested on Sora's face. And as we called out, "Go!" he shot off and raced across the bridge.

I saw them both take the same route, ignoring the ladder and zipline, and I knew they were gonna race across the sand and jump to the tree then possibly either come back through the sand or jump across the tree tops then drop down and run back across the bridge. And I love being right. In a while we saw Sora jump down from a tree and run toward us with Riku right behind him.

I whooped when my brother reached us first and gave him a high-five. Then he scampered off to Riku and said something, and whatever Riku's reply was made him scowl, making Riku smirk.

I rolled my eyes and knew it was something about Kairi.

The sun was setting and Riku and I volunteered to take the food to the boats. Sora and Kairi stayed on the bridge to talk.

I carried the mushrooms and half the fish while Riku carried the coconuts and the other half of the fish.

"Sooooo. . ." I started off, trying to work out what to say. "Why did my brother look pissed at you?"

He shrugged his shoulders, avoiding looking at my eyes again. "Dunno. We said whoever wins gets to name the raft whatever they wanted. I wanted to name it Highwind. Sora wanted to name it Paladin."

I gave him a look. "Oh, so he was pissed off because he won?" If he wasn't carrying food I would've tripped him and made him fall on his face. "What else did you bet on?"

He looked into my eyes finally, a sheepish smile on his face. "Well, I kinda told him that the winner would get to share a paopu fruit with Kairi . . ."

"You WHAT?" I scowled and shoved him. "You asshole, you know how he gets." I shook my head and ignored the flame in my gut at the thought of Riku sharing a paopu fruit with Kairi. "And what then, he won and you told him it was a joke?"

He nodded and I narrowed my eyes. "You better run 'cause I'm gonna kick your ass."

It pissed me off that he only laughed so I made good on my threat and kicked at him, only aiming somewhere more at his kidneys than his butt. Riku sidestepped, laughed, and ran.

"Get back here so I can kick your ass!" But I was smiling now. I was actually getting to race. And I was gonna catch up with him and punch him, but I was having fun.

When we got near the boats I tossed my bags in the sand and sped up before launching myself at Riku. The momentum made us fly into the water and we spluttered as we sat up, coughing and laughing.

But I still punched him hard in the shoulder, making him grimace. "Hey, that hurt."

I gave him a look. "Yeah, well, you know how Sora gets about Kairi. Don't pick on him like that, especially if you're not even in love with Kairi." Saying that pained my heart, and I didn't even know why. I was just being protective of my brother, right?

Riku went silent for a moment. "Well, what if I did love Kairi?"

The question made me seethe. "Then you'd have to work that out with Sora and one of you would have to wait to see who she loved, now wouldn't you? But you don't love Kairi like that, Riku, you love her as a friend or sister. You just like to pick on my brother."

"How would you know?" His face went dark. "It's not like you know everything, Nova. And just because you say something doesn't make it true."

My heart was thumping painfully in my chest. "So what're you saying? That you're in love with Kairi and that's why you pick on and compete with Sora?" I was getting pissed at him again. "You know he loves her, Riku! You know Sora loves Kairi. And she loves you like a brother, not like a boyfriend!"

"How the hell would you know?" He was trying to control his anger at me, red in the face and fists clenched. "You don't even know if you love anyone! You don't know yourself, how can you truly know about anyone else?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I love people, Riku. I love my parents, my brother, Kairi, and you. You're my best friends and family."

He shook his head, not losing any of his anger. "Nova, that's not what I mean. I've had girlfriends but I knew I never truly loved any of them. I never fell in love with them, but I liked them as people and as friends. But you stay with someone and go through whatever hardship there is with someone when you love them, truly love them with every fiber of your being. You can look them in the eyes and keep looking at them when you know they love you back just as much. Because otherwise it hurts and you know they're going to leave and they may never come back."

I didn't know what to say. I was confused and didn't understand his rant, and I wasn't sure I wanted to understand. But I didn't want him to stay mad.

Riku clenched his teeth together. "Look, you know how Sora gets when I flirt with Kairi?"

"Yes, and that's why I'm telling you to stop."

"Not the point I'm trying to make!"

I winced at his tone, still confused and wondering why my heart was hurting so badly.

"Nova, look at me."

I looked up and saw the pained look on his face and in his eyes. "What Riku? I don't understand what you're trying to say."

His anger was slowly draining away, as was mine, but I wanted to cry, and Riku just looked horribly unhappy.

"Have you ever felt anything? Anything more than the love for a friend or family member? For anyone?"

"I. . . I don't know." Tears were building up and I was trying desperately to force them down. Why should this conversation upset me so much? Because what he said was true and I didn't know myself or anyone else as well as I liked to assume I did?

"Nova." Riku's voice broke and he coughed before speaking again. "Nova, listen. When you get mad at me for flirting with Kairi, you're always mad at me because you're defending your brother and you don't want me to upset him and piss him off. You're not mad at me for flirting with her because you're a girl and she's another girl. Okay? And I wish you would be mad because of that."

I nodded, showing him that I was listening but I was still trying to work it out. _Because I'm a girl and she's another girl?_

He sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "Yesterday when you were hugging Tidus and his hands were on your shoulders I got mad because I'm a boy and he's some other boy. But I didn't get mad because I was defending anyone." He looked me in the eyes again and I saw a spark of pain. "I got mad because he was hugging you. It wasn't me hugging you, but him. Not me, but him, and I didn't want him to touch you." Riku reached out and put his hands on my shoulders, eyes still locked with mine.

I blinked and opened and closed my mouth, trying to think of what to say. All I managed to croak out was, "I didn't hug him back."

Riku pressed his lips together but didn't let go. "I know that, and I know you weren't going to kiss him and you were uncomfortable and weirded out that he hugged you. But that's not the point. He touched you, and I didn't want him to touch you. You're not his to touch or hug or hold." He pulled me into his arms and held me.

And it didn't make me uncomfortable. I had hugged Riku before but it was always a one-armed hug, not a full-on bear hug that felt like he never wanted to let me go. A weird feeling rose in my stomach and my eyes widened. I was working out something in my mind, trying to make sense of what he was trying to explain to me. I needed to understand.

But all I ended up doing was sobbing on his shoulder, my arms circling around his body as far as they would go, and I held him tight. Tighter than I had ever held anyone before. I didn't want to let him go right then. I felt like it would hurt too much.

Still, our hug lasted only a minute and we pulled away.

Instead of looking unhappy, Riku was actually smiling. His eyes still held pain as they looked into mine, but the pain was less now.

And somehow that knowledge made me happy but made me cry harder, and Riku just held me again, not minding that I was crying into his chest. Not like he had to worry about his shirt getting wet, we were already soaked from the water we were still sitting in.

He was cold, and goosebumps were on his arms, and I could feel the cold but it didn't bother me. But he still picked me up out of the water, cradling me against his chest, and sat down on the dock with me still in his arms and on his lap.

I tried in vain to wipe the tears away, getting frustrated, and Riku laughed and somehow effortlessly wiped my tears away from my eyes.

Then he looked into my eyes, still pained and hurting, and leaned down to kiss my forehead.

I widened my eyes and blushed, confused at what I was feeling and at what he did but he set me down before I had a chance to ask why and walked off to get the bags of food we dropped.

I thought about the kiss. It was something I was familiar with because, when Sora and I were younger, mom and dad would tuck us in and give us a kiss on the forehead. I had also seen dad give kisses to mom on her forehead, or her nose, or even when they thought no one was looking, on her mouth. And dad kissed mom because it made her happy and because . . . Because he loved her. My father loved my mother dearly, with all his heart and soul, and my mom loved him back just as much. They loved each other more than life itself. And their kisses were their signs of affection for each other, not just frivolous nothings to throw away without a care.

I widened my eyes and looked at Riku as he put the bags in their respective boats, wondering at his kiss to my forehead, just like how dad kissed mom's.

He was getting into his boat, ready to go back home. I looked down the beach and saw Sora and Kairi coming to meet us. I heard the splash of oars in the water.

"Riku, wait!" I wanted to know, like I had finally worked that problem out in my head, that thing I had never considered before.

He looked at me expectantly. "What is it?"

"D-do you. . . Are you . . . ?" I didn't know how to say it. I knew what I wanted to ask but when I wanted to try I felt foolish and the words were lost. I tried to work up the courage to ask him. "Are you-?"

"Nova." He cut me off, just smiling. "For another time, okay? We have to go home and get ready for the trip." He saluted me as he pushed himself farther out to sea and I nodded, feeling tired and overwhelmed.

But I finally understood what he had been trying to say. It just made me more confused about my own feelings.

"Nova!" Sora and Kairi ran up behind me, looking at Riku's receding form. "Why'd Riku leave?"

I smiled nonchalantly. "He said we needed to go home and get ready for the trip."

Sora peered at my face. "Why does it look like you've been crying?" He looked from me to Riku's distant form, and back to my face. "What'd he do? I swear I'll kick his butt if he did anything to you Nova, I swear I will."

"No Sora, it's okay." I shook my head and walked toward our boat. "Don't worry about it. We were just talking."

Kairi smiled knowingly. "About what, Nova?"

"Nothing, nothing at all." I smiled up at the sky and felt like the stars were watching me, calming me. "Just stuff."

"Uh-huh." Kairi giggled and went to her boat. "Come on you guys, it's late and we need to prepare everything so we're not scrambling around tomorrow.

"Riiight." Sora narrowed his eyes at us but shrugged. "Let's get going then."

And so we did, heading off to our respective houses, but as Sora took his turn to row the boat I looked back at the island and wondered if I was seeing things, or if there really was a cloud of darkness gathering over it. But I shrugged off the ominous feeling and stared forward and chatted with my brother as we neared home.

Mom greeted us at the door and told us dinner would be ready soon. We had already stored the food in the freezer and in the cooler in the garage and we knew they'd be fine.

Mom and dad knew about our trip but they weren't too worried. They didn't expect us to go very far, and they decided that we needed to just have fun.

Sora and I ran up to our respective rooms to pack, though I hoped he could find enough clean clothes to pack for the trip. His room was a mess. Mine. . .

Mine was beyond clean. I had drawings all around, but they were in neat order, either compiled from smallest to largest or a bunch clustered together to form one large picture. The one I was most proud of was the one that took up almost an entire wall; the castle. It seemed so familiar, as if I had seen it before, with its turrets and steeples and archways and for some reason my favorite part was the center. A star shone at the center of the castle, lighting up everything and making it seem bright and majestic. I loved it.

But something shone in my picture that I didn't remember drawing, and I got mad, wondering who might've drawn on my art. As I peered closer, I realized that it looked like my drawing style, but I still didn't remember ever drawing it. It was a person standing at the top of the castle, but it was like there was a haze around it. But the person held something in their hand, something that looked like a sword.

I wondered at it but shrugged, guessing that I drew the person when I was tired. I turned away from my artwork and went to my closet, picking out suitable adventuring clothes and shoes. But my eyes kept wandering over to my drawing, wondering why the person was hazy and cloaked in shadow when the rest of the drawing, the castle and all, was cast in light.

I settled for five shirts, three pairs of pants, 10 pairs of undies, and six pairs of socks before groaning at the fact that Kairi and I would be stuck on the raft with two boys. How the hell were we gonna change our clothes? I shook my head and decided that we'd figure something out, either setting up a tarp or making sure the boys wouldn't turn around.

Sora and I had seen each other naked, sure, but we were brother and sister, and that was when we were younger. Kairi needed privacy from male eyes, and the boys would have privacy to change as well.

Sighing, I lied by on my bed and just listened to the wind and the waves, my mind picking out all the unusual things that had happened that day. The bird, the vision in the pond, the darkness . . . Riku's gentle kiss to my brow.

Which happened to be burning at that moment. I rubbed at my forehead in irritation but it did nothing to alleviate the slight burning sensation I felt. It was centered right at the spot where Riku's lips touched my skin, and I was irritated.

_What the hell? Why is my forehead burning!?_ I got up to look in a mirror and saw nothing wrong with my forehead. No mark, no redness, no nothing, but I still felt the slight pain. I was about to look closer at the mirror when I heard a noise out on the roofing outside the window.

It was raining now but I didn't care about my bed getting wet, so I opened the window and saw my brother walking across the roof to where he could scramble down.

"Hey," I hissed.

Sora looked at me and made a shushing gesture.

"No!" I was irritated at the moment and I wanted to know what in the world he thought he was doing. "It's raining outside, are you crazy!?"

He shook his head. "No, but there's a storm out over the island. I have to go and secure the raft!"

I gaped at him. "Sora, get your butt back in the house! The raft will be fine. We tied it down, didn't we?"

"No we didn't! That's why I have to go and make sure nothing happens to it."

I groaned. "Oh, damn it!" I bit my lip and made a move to climb out the window. "Then I'll come with you!"

"No!" Sora pushed me back in my room. "Someone has to stay here so mom and dad don't worry. You know how mom is about storms."

I rolled my eyes, frustrated. "Yes, I know, but you could get hurt!"

Sora smiled at me in that loving-brother way of his. "Then at least you're here and you know where I am so you can get help if I don't come back soon. Okay?"

I glared at him but nodded and he shut my window and went to scamper off the roof. But I looked out toward the island again and knew that the dark cloud over it was no figment of my imagination. Maybe it was just a really low storm cloud. I hoped it was just a storm cloud and not something worse.

But the farther my brother got away from me the more I worried and felt sick to my stomach. I felt like not only was Sora in danger but so were Riku and Kairi and well.

It was like I could feel them. Riku and Kairi were on the island with Sora, somewhere. Sora and Riku I felt near each other first and then I felt Sora's fear, fear for Riku and I wanted to scream. Riku was overjoyed at some dark feeling in his heart, and I was scared. Even sensing the darkness in his heart hurt me. But I felt my brother reaching for his best friend, reaching, and I reached out to, as if that would save him.

"Sora, Nova, dinner's ready!" Mom was calling us down for dinner. Something bad was happening on the island, and I could still feel Sora reaching for Riku. "O-okay mom," I called down, not knowing what else to do. But I pulled on my sturdiest boots, a tank top, and jeans. I didn't know what the hell I was doing but I had to do something.

"Sora?" Sora of course was usually the first one to answer and run downstairs for dinner so mom knew something was off.

And she wasn't going to be happy with me.

I ran downstairs, wondering if I should take a jacket when mom and dad came running, wondering why I had rushed downstairs away from the kitchen and toward the front door.

"Where are you going?" Dad looked confused, much like Sora did when something was puzzling.

Mom looked pasty white, like she was going to have a panic attack. "Where's your brother? Please tell me he's in his room."

I couldn't lie, so I just shook my head, deciding against the jacket since I never got cold or sick, and the rain wouldn't do a thing to me besides soak my clothes and my hair.

"Where's your brother?"

"I need to go." There was a desperate urgency in my voice that I hadn't managed to keep out and it made mom hysterical.

"Oh god, he's gone to the island! It's storming outside!" She ran for the door but dad kept a hold of her arm. "Let me go, Chris! We've got to go get him!"

But he looked at me, knowing something we didn't know, but the knowledge of it frightened him. He looked heartbroken. "We have to let them go, Juli."

And I was stunned, almost hurt by the fact that my father was so ready to let us go out into danger. But he didn't want to, and I could see it in his eyes. It was hurting him.

Hurting mom. "No! They're our babies, damn it!" She was crying and trying desperately to make dad let go of her arm. "Chris, they're just kids! Look at that storm."

He nodded but met my eyes just as I felt Riku disappear from the world. It tore at my heart and I screamed, feeling his absence and trying desperately to find him somewhere, anywhere. But all I met when I searched for him was the darkness and it burned me, and I screamed again.

Mom and dad ran to me and asked me what was wrong but I pushed them away and stumbled outside. "I have to find them! I have to find them before something else happens!" I was screaming, terrified and now I felt the darkness trying to cover Sora. I bolted toward the spare boat we kept and dragged it out of the garage, cursing myself for not being stronger or faster to move the damn thing.

But it suddenly felt lighter and I turned my head to see dad helping me to carry it to the water, mom following behind and looking panicked.

She didn't want to let me go out all alone, to let Sora go face whatever was happening alone. But she had to. And she was crying like she might never see us again.

I knew the pain it was causing her, causing dad, but this was something that had to be done. I had to save Sora, and Kairi, and Riku wherever he might've gone. We settled the boat on the water and I got in, readying the oars.

Dad gripped the edge of the boat, scared and concerned and looking at the sky before looking down to meet my eyes. "You need to go. Now."

I nodded and noticed the wind picking up, the unnatural darkening of the sky and the sinister lightning. And I wished I could bring them with me. Something bad was happening and I couldn't stop it. "Go back inside. Please." Tears were pouring out of my eyes as I started to row away. I called out to them one last time. "Go inside and hold on to each other."

My father nodded and scooped my mother up in his arms and ran inside. The door slammed shut and I concentrated on rowing as fast as I could to the island, but the sea helped me with that, seemingly intent on getting me there as quickly as possible.

I could feel Sora find Kairi, happy that she was there, that she wasn't hurt, and I was thankful that the darkness hadn't swallowed either of them. There was something new about my brother that I couldn't identify, something foreign and I could sense him carrying it, like it had a life of its own, but it seemed neither sinister nor dark. It was a weapon against the darkness.

Kairi felt strange, almost sick and desperately reaching out to my brother. He was her lifeline. I felt them almost collide and Sora reaching out to catch her but then she was gone. She was gone but somehow still with him and I couldn't make any sense of it.

I was almost at the island, I could see the sand and the dock and then I saw everything fall apart. Literally. The world fell apart and bits and pieces were being sucked up into that dark ball of darkness I thought had been a cloud earlier. I jumped from my boat to a floating piece of the island and I felt my brother being propelled out from that room where he had been talking to that man, where Kairi had been, and I saw him land on the sand of a larger piece of the island next to mine.

It wasn't close enough for me to jump to him and I slammed my fist down on the sand and called out to him, hoping he would hear me, but he didn't.

His attention was focused on the hulking monster that rose out of his shadow, 'hair' askew with glowing yellow eyes, claws hand, strange toed feet, and a gigantic heart-shaped hole in its chest.

My brother, my dear sweet brother who I loved so much, stood ready against this beast as if he had done this before, a key-shaped sword appearing in his hand that I knew was the weapon I sensed earlier.

The fight was incredible. The beast was slow, unable to follow my brother's movements of dashing around his feet so quick, but hitting the monster's feet did nothing. So Sora waited for an opportunity to strike.

The beast raised its arm up, summoning some sort of swirling energy in its palm, then slammed it into the ground, a pool of darkness swallowing its fist. Those little creatures I had fought in my dream were spilling out, swiping at Sora, but he ran up the beast's arm and slashed at its eyes and head.

I whooped and cheered him on even though he couldn't hear me but cried out in fear when the monster swung his head down, throwing my brother off onto the ground.

Sora, thankfully was fine. And now had to fight those weird little monsters that liked to sink into the ground to mess with you. But my brother fought like a pro, dodging and attacking, staying out of the giant creature's way, even dodging the weird dark orbs it was shooting into the sky from its chest. They fell all around like dark snowflakes and sank into the ground like they harmed nothing.

I moved out of the way of one, knowing that it would hurt if it touched me. But the dark snowflakes stopped dropping and I returned my attention back to the battle, concerned for Sora's well-being.

I could see that he was tired, already jumping down from the monster's shoulder and standing at the ready for more, but I knew one more hit would finish it off.

Sora knew it too.

I reached my heart out to him, hoping to lend him strength. He dodged to the side as the creature slammed its fist down to form the dark pool in which the smaller monsters poured out and dashed up its arm to deliver the final blow.

He had won. My brother won.

All was quiet for a moment as the beast teetered to one side, looking like it was about to fall off the edge of the island.

I called to Sora, hoping he'd hear me this time. "Sora! Sora, look at me!"

And he did, excited to hear my voice, happy that I wasn't gone.

But our happiness didn't last long. The pull from the dark orb got stronger and suddenly the pieces of our small islands were being sucked into it. The monster flew up into it and so did the smaller ones, and I knew that was about to happen to my brother.

I tried to find a way to get to his perch safely. He was only hanging on to a palm tree for dear life and I knew that it wouldn't hold for long. I saw his fingers slipping and jumped, my fingertips barely meeting the edge of the island.

We both slipped and fell and watched each other slip farther and farther away. Sora being sucked up into the ball of darkness and me falling into the darkness, tearing a path through it once again.

I saw my brother reach for me and I reached out my arm, as if that would help anything. It didn't. Sora disappeared and I kept falling, feeling the horrible pain of the dark and it screaming as I fell through. Down and down, with no hope of ever hitting land.

-I make everyone kinda violent toward one another, don't I? It's love. And I love to give hell to my OCs. Poor things. Still, please review and tell me what you think. Thank you, and have a good day.- SpiffyPixie1


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